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The frequency of HAV, HBV, HCV and HDV infections were evaluated in children with thalassemia and haematologic by ELİSA. A total of 136 serum specimens were tested for this purpose. Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positivity was found in 46 % of patients with leukemia, 50 % of patients with lymphoma and 16.6 % of thalassemic children. Anti HCV was present in 8 % of leukeınia group and 16.6 % in thalassemic group. in our opinion, vira! hepatitis infections that have a great prevalence in multitransfused patient groups can be reduced by screening of blood donors for markers of viral hepatitis before transfusion.

Amaç: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) bütün dünyada infant ve çocuklarda yüksek mortalite ve morbidite ile seyreden alt solunum yolu enfeksiyonlarının majör sebebidir. Bu çalışmada amacımız hastanede yatan ve alt solunum yolu enfeksiyonu olan infant ve çocuklarda RSV enfeksiyonlarınıninsidansının araştırmak ve tanı yöntemi olarak direkt immunfloresan test ile ters transkripsiyon polimeraz zincir reaksiyonu (Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Recation; RT-PCR) testlerini karşılaştırmaktır.Yöntemler: Çalışmaya Ocak 2011 ve Ocak 2012 tarihleri arasında alt solunum yolu enfeksiyonu olup hastaneye yatırılan toplam 323 hastayı (0-15 yaş) dahil ettik. Floklueküvyon (Copan Diagnostics, Italy) ile alınan nazofaringeal sürüntü örneklerinde RSV antijenini direkt immunfloresan test (Argene SA, France) ile, RSV RNA varlığını ise in-housenested RT-PCR yöntemi ile araştırdık.Bulgular: Toplam 323 örneğin 95’inde (%29,4) RT-PCR ile RSV RNA, 88’inde (%27,6) ise direkt immunfloresan test yöntemi ile RSV antijen pozitifliği tespit ettik. Örneklerin 80’inini (%25) her iki yöntem ile pozitif, 220’sini (%68) ise her iki yöntem ile negatif bulduk. RT-PCR testine göre kıyasladığımızda direkt immunfloresan testinin sensitivitesini %84,2, spesifitesini %96,5, pozitif prediktif değerini %91 ve negatif prediktif değerini %93,6 bulduk.Sonuç: Çalışma grubunda RSV enfeksiyonlarının insidansının (%29,4) oldukça yüksek olduğunu tespit ettik. Sonuç olarak antiviral tedavinin erken başlanması ve nozokomiyal yayılımın azaltılması için %84 gibi yüksek sensitivite gösteren, daha hızlı bir test (2.5 saate karşılık 12 saat) olan direkt immunfloresan testinin ilk tanı testi olarak kullanılmasını ve test sonucu negatif bulunan örneklerin RT-PCR ile çalışılmasını öneriyoruz.

Aim: BK virus (BKV)-associated hemorrhagic cystitis (HC) is a common complication in patients after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of BKV infection in pediatric patients receiving HSCT. Material and Methods: Total of 51 patients aged between 16 months and 16 years old and followed up between October 2015 and September 2017 were included in the study. The patients were monitored by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (Anatolia Geneworks, Turkey) test for the detection of BKV DNA in urine and blood. Results: Of patients, 46 received allogeneic HSCT and 5 autologous HSCT. BKV DNA positivity was detected in urine and/or blood of total 27 (52.9%) patients in whom 26 (56.5%) of 46 patients with allogeneic transplantation, and 1 (20.0%) of 5 patients with autologous transplantation. BKV viral load in urine >107 copies/ml required for preemptive treatment was detected in 12 (26.1%) of 46 patients received allogeneic HSCT. The development of HC was prevented in 9 (75.0%) of the 12 patients given preemptive treatment, while 3 (25.0%) cases developed HC and cured by treatment. BKV viruria was detected >109 copies/ml in two weeks before the onset of HC and was accepted as a prognostic indicator for predictive diagnosis of HC. BKV viremia was found >104 copies/ml in 1 patient within two weeks before the onset of cystitis. Conclusion: Screening for BKV infection, especially BKV viruria in HSCT patients, is recommended for the predictive diagnosis of HC in patients at high risk.

The purpose of this study is to compare the predisposing factors, clinical findings, treatment results, and prognosis for polymicrobial keratitis. In this retrospective comparative case study, we identified the cases of polymicrobial keratitis from the microbiological records (n = 649) at Balcali Hospital, Cukurova University (Adana, Turkey; October 2010–2018). We included all the cases of infectious keratitis with two different types of microbial agents and grouped them as follows: group 1 (n = 25), bacterium–fungus coexistence; group 2 (n = 12), herpes simplex virus (HSV) or Acanthamoeba with bacterial infection; and group 3 (n = 7), HSV or Acanthamoeba with fungal infection. We compared the clinical and microbiological characteristics, and treatment outcomes among the groups. In our study, we found that 44 infectious keratitis cases (6.7%) were of polymicrobial nature. The mean follow-up period was 11.4 ± 17.8 months. In total, 17 different bacteria along with 3 different fungi, HSV, and Acanthamoeba were isolated. The most common bacterium was Staphylococcus epidermidis (25%). Most of the fungal pathogens were filamentous. Patients with initial treatment failure and requiring surgical intervention had larger infiltrates (p = 0.023, p = 0.003, respectively) than other patients. Older age was associated with delayed recovery and poor visual prognosis. Bacterial–fungus coexistence is the most common combination among patients, but other combinations should also be considered for suspected polymicrobial etiology. The corneal infiltrate size may be an important indicator of the course of disease and response to treatment. A closer and longer follow-up period should be planned for older patients.

Giriş: Human papillomavirüs (HPV) servikal kanserin majör sebebidir. Servikal kanser kadınlar arasında dünya genelinde ikinci en sık görülen kanser olmakla birlikte, gelişmekte olan ülkelerde kansere bağlı ölümlerin önemli etkenlerinden biridir. Dünyada her yıl yaklaşık 500.000 yeni servikal kanser tanımlanmakta ve bunların yarısına yakınının ölümle sonuçlandığı tahmin edilmektedir. Servikal kanser taramasında yüksek riskli HPV DNA testi ve sitolojik tarama testinin birlikte kullanılmasıyla servikal prekanseröz lezyonların erken tanısı ve tedavisi sonucu servikal kanser büyük oranda önlenebilir bir hastalıktır. Servikal kansere karşı primer koruma sağlayan profilaktik HPV aşılarının 2006 yılından itibaren uygulanmaya başlanmasıyla servikal kanser sıklığı ve mortalitenin azalması amaçlanmıştır. HPV aşısının, yüksek risk (HR) HPV tiplerine karşı immünite gelişmesini sağlayarak prekanseröz lezyonlara karşı korunmada etkin olduğu ispatlanmış ve bu aşı birçok ülkede rutin aşı programına dahil edilmiştir. Bu çalışmada, anormal servikal sitolojili kadınlarda gerçek zamanlı polimeraz zincir reaksiyonu (PCR) testi kullanılarak HPV prevalansı ve genotiplerinin tespiti amaçlanmıştır. Materyal ve Metod: Çalışmaya, 2015-2017 yılları arasında Çukurova Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Kadın Hastalıkları ve Doğum Polikliniğine başvuran yaşları 30-65 yıl arasında değişen, HPV taraması yapılan, 53’ü anormal servikal sitolojili ve 262’si normal servikal sitolojili toplam 315 kadına ait servikal sürüntü örneği dahil edilmiştir. Servikal sürüntü örneklerden HPV genotiplemesi HPV Genotipleme Testi Bosphore HPV Genotyping High Risk Kit v1 (Anatolia Geneworks, Turkey) kullanılarak gerçek zamanlı PCR testiyle gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bulgular: Anormal sitolojili 53 kadında HPV infeksiyonunun prevalansı %69.8 (n= 37), kontrol grubunda ise %39.7 (n= 104) idi. Anormal sitolojili HPV pozitif 37 kadında en baskın HPV genotipi HPV 16 (%45.9) olup bunu HPV 56 (%18.9), HPV 18 (%16.2), HPV 52 (%13.5), HPV 68 (%13.5), HPV 33 (%10.8), HPV 35 (%10.8), HPV 58 (%10.8), HPV 51 (%8.1), HPV 39 (%5.4), HPV 45 (%5.4) ve HPV 66 (%5.4) izlemiştir. Kontrol grubunda HPV pozitif 104 kadın arasında en yaygın genotiplerin HPV 16 (%52.9), HPV 18 (%27.9), HPV 45 (%13.5), HPV 56 (%13.5), HPV 68 (%12.5) ve HPV 52 (%8.7) olduğu görülmüştür. Sonuç: Servikal prekanseröz lezyonu olan kadınlarda en baskın genotip HPV 16 olup servikal kanser için risk altındaki kadınların tespitinde onkojenik HPV genotiplerinin tanısı gereklidir Introduction: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the major cause of cervical cancer, which is the second most common cancer in the world among women and is one of the major causes of cancer-related deaths in developing countries. Approximately 500.000 new cervical cancers are identified each year in the world, and close to half of them are estimated to have resulted in death. Cervical cancer is largely a preventable disease by early detection and treatment of cervical precancerous lesions with the combined use of high risk (HR) HPV DNA testing and cervical cytology test in cervical cancer screening. Prophylactic human papillomavirus vaccines, which provide primary protection against cervical cancer, have been started to be applied since 2006 with the aim of decreasing the incidence of cervical cancer and mortality. HPV vaccine has been proven to be effective in protecting against precancerous lesions by providing immunity against high risk (HR) HPV types and has been included in the routine vaccination program in many countries. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and genotypes of HPV using real-time PCR test in women with abnormal cervical cytology. Materials and Methods: Between 2015-2017, a total of 315 women aged between 30 and 65 years were screened for HPV in the Clinic of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Faculty of Medicine, Cukurova University. Out of the 315 female cervical swabs, a total of 53 had abnormal cervical cytology and 262 had normal cervical cytology. HPV genotyping from cervical swab samples was performed by realtime PCR using Bosphore HPV Genotyping High Risk Kit v1 (Anatolia Geneworks, Turkey). Results: The prevalence of HPV infection in 53 women with abnormal cytology was 69.8% (n= 37) and 39.7% (n= 104) in the control group. The most prevalent HPV genotype among 37 HPV-positive women with abnormal cytology was HPV 16 (45.9%), followed by HPV 56 (18.9%), HPV 18 (16.2%) HPV 52 (13.5%), HPV 68 (13.5%), HPV33 (10.8%), HPV35 (10.8%), HPV 58 (10.8%), HPV 51(8.1%), HPV 39 (5.4%), HPV 45 (5.4%), and HPV 66 (5.4%). Among HPV-positive 104 women as the control group, the most common genotypes were HPV 16 (52.9%), HPV 18 (27.9%), HPV 45 (13.5%), HPV 56 (13.5%), HPV 68 (12.5%,) and HPV 52 (8.7%). Conclusion: The most common genotype was HPV 16 in women with cervical precancerous lesions, and the diagnosis of oncogenic HPV genotypes is necessary to identify women at risk for cervical cancer.

Influenza virus infections are extremely important for human health due to the occurence of seasonal epidemics and pandemics worldwide. Influenza is associated with high morbidity and may result in serious complications such as life threatening viral or bacterial pneumonia. Especially, young children, older adults, patients with chronic diseases such as heart, lung, kidney, and diabetes and immunosuppressed people are at higher risk for complications and death from influenza virus infections. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of influenza type A and B virus infections and influenza A virus subtypes in hospitalized patients with respiratory tract infections by real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR, Sacace, Italy), conventional RT-PCR and direct immunofluorescence antibody (DFA, Argene SA, France) tests. Nasopharyngeal swab specimens were collected from a total of 476 patients with respiratory tract symptoms by using flocked swabs (Copan Diagnostics, Italy) between 1 April 2012 and 31 December 2013. Influenza A virus was detected in 20.5% (98/476) and influenza B virus in 3.3% (16/476) of the cases by real-time RT-PCR test. During the study period, 63.3% of 98 influenza virus isolates were found as influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 and 36.7% were influenza A(H3N2) subtypes. Influenza A (H1N1) pdm09 subtype was observed in 12 cases in January 2013 and influenza A(H3N2) subtype was observed in 11 cases in December 2013 as the highest values. When the real-time RT-PCR test was regarded as the reference test, the sensitivities of DFA test for influenza A and B and conventional RT-PCR test with WHO primers (M30F2/08 and M264R3/08) for influenza A were detected as 72.4%, 75%, 96% and the specificities were detected as 99.2%, 99.5% and 100%, respectively. In conclusion, influenza A virus infection was detected rather high with a rate of 20.5% in the study group. The monitoring of influenza virus types and subtypes is required for the evaluation of influenza vaccine strains and circulating influenza viruses and for the identification of subtypes with pandemic potential. Planning for appropriate antiviral therapy using real-time RT-PCR in the early diagnosis of influenza virus infections will significantly contribute to the management of the patient's treatment. Thus, unnecessary drug use will be prevented and controlled with effective treatment of the disease at the time of infection.

Aims: To determine herpes simplex virus (HSV) DNA positivity in corneal scraping samples obtained from patients with microbial keratitis whose findings were not specific for HSV keratitis and to evaluate these particular cases with respect to clinical features and antiviral treatment results. Methods: Records of patients with microbial keratitis treated in a tertiary eye care hospital within the 3-year period were evaluated retrospectively. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to identify HSV DNA. Smear slides were evaluated by light microscopy. Patients with typical presentations and histories of HSV keratitis were excluded. Results: Two hundred and seventy-six eyes of 276 patients were included in the study. HSV-1 DNA was detected in 25 eyes (9%). In these 25 eyes, the initial diagnosis was fungal or bacterial keratitis. The mean symptom duration was 20 ± 14 days (2–60 days). The risk factors were ocular surgery (20%), blepharitis (16%), trauma (8%) and contact lens wear (4%); however, the majority of patients did not have any specific cause for keratitis (52%). Clinical features were variable and not typical for any particular etiology. Culture and microscopic examinations revealed bacteria and/or fungi in 6 patients in addition to herpes infection. Antiviral treatment was successful in 72% of patients. Conclusion: Herpetic corneal infections can present without typical dendritic or geographic ulcers and may be masked by other infections. Real-time PCR is a useful method for rapid and definitive diagnosis. HSV infection should be considered for microbial keratitis without specific risk factors, with negative culture results and poor response to antimicrobial agents. © 2019, Springer Nature B.V.

WOS: 000458773500015 Objective: Haemorrhagic cystitis associated with BK virus (BKV) is a common and life-threatening complication in patients with haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). In this study, we aimed to investigate the incidence of BKV infection in children with HSCT. Methods: A total of 21 patients aged 7 months to 16 years followed between July 2014 and July 2015 were included in the study. 19 of the patients received allogeneic HSCT and 2 received autologous HSCT. artus (R) BK Virus RG PCR Kit (Qiagen GmbH, Hilden, Germany) was used for detection of BKV DNA in urine and blood samples. Results: BKV infection was detected in 10 (47%) of 21 patients. Cystitis due to BKV developed in 4 (19%) of the patients. Haemorrhagic cystitis was observed to appear at a median of 23 days after HSCT. Urinary viral load was found to be >10(8) copies/pI within the previous week before the development of cystitis, and this finding has been accepted as a prognostic indicator. On the other hand, viral load in blood increased to >10(4) copies/mu l after 21-28 days from the onset of cystitis. All patients with cystitis were allogeneic HSCT recipients under myeloablative therapy (high-intensity regimen) for conditioning regimen. Conclusions: Screening of HSCT recipients for BKV infection, especially for viruria, is important for establishing the predictive diagnosis of patients at high risk for haemorrhagic cystitis and for better management of their treatment.

Giriş: Hematopoietik kök hücre transplantasyonu (HKHT) yapılan hastalarda immünsüpresif tedaviye bağlı viral infeksiyonlar özellikle sitomegalovirüs (CMV), Epstein-Barr virüs (EBV) ve adenovirüs (ADV) infeksiyonları morbidite ve mortalitenin başlıca sebebidir. Bu çalışmada, HKHT yapılan çocuk hastalarda CMV, EBV ve ADV infeksiyonlarının insidansının araştırılması amaçlanmıştır. Materyal ve Metod: Çalışmaya Kasım 2015-Kasım 2016 tarihleri arasında HKHT yapılan, yaşları 16 ay ile 16 yıl arasında değişen toplam 51 çocuk hasta dahil edilmiştir. Hastaların 46’sına allojenik, beşine otolog HKHT yapılmıştır. CMV, EBV ve ADV viral yükünün kanda tespiti için kantitatif real-time polimeraz zincir reaksiyonu (PCR) (Anatolia Geneworks, Türkiye) testi kullanılmıştır. Bulgular: Allojenik HKHT yapılan 46 hastada tekli infeksiyon veya koinfeksiyon şeklinde olmak üzere %26 (n= 12)’sında CMV, %26 (n= 12)’sında EBV ve %2.1 (n= 1)’inde ADV viral yükü 1000 kopya/mL’nin üstünde bulunmuştur. Allojenik HKHT alıcısı 20 (%43.4) hastaya preemptif tedavi uygulanmış ve 19’unda viremi temizlenmiştir. Sadece 1 (%2.1) hasta EBV infeksiyonu ve akut graft versus host hastalığı (GVHH) sebebiyle kaybedilmiştir. Sonuç: HKHT yapılan hastalarda viral yük izlenerek erken tanı konulması ve preemptif tedavinin başlanması viral infeksiyonlara bağlı oluşabilecek komplikasyonların önlenmesi için önemlidir Introduction: Due to immunosuppressive treatments, viral infections, especially cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and adenovirus (ADV) infections, are the main causes of morbidity and mortality in patients receiving hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of CMV, EBV and ADV infections in pediatric patients who had HSCT. Materials and Methods: Between November 2015 and November 2016, 51 patients between the ages of 16 months and 16 years having had HSCT were included into the study. Forty-six patients received allogeneic and 5 patients autologous HSCT. Quantitative realtime PCR (Anatolia Geneworks, Turkey) test was used to detect CMV, EBV and ADV viral load in blood. Results: Of the 46 patients receiving allogeneic HSCT as a single infection or co-infection, viral load above 1000 copies/mL was found in 26% (12) for CMV, in 26% (12) for EBV and 2.1% (1) for ADV. Twenty (43.4%) allogeneic HSCT recipients was put under preemptive therapy and viremia was cleared in 19. Only 1 (2.1%) patient died due to EBV infection and acute graft versus host disease (GVHD). Conclusion: Early diagnosis by monitoring viral load and initiation of preemptive treatment is important to prevent complications of viral infections in patients after HSCT

Background: Human parvovirus B19 infection during pregnancy may cause fetal loss. The aim of this study was to detect the incidence of B19 infection in cases of nonimmune hydrops fetalis (NIHF), spontaneous abortion, intrauterine fetal death (IUFD) and in healthy pregnant women. Material and Methods: Serum samples of pregnant women with NIHF (9), spontaneous abortion (27), IUFD (5) and healthy pregnant women (47) were tested by nested PCR to detect B19 DNA and by ELISA test for B19 specific IgM and IgG antibodies. In other case series of the study, paraffin-embedded fetal and placental tissue samples from 33 NIHF cases and 19 spontaneous abortion cases and placental tissues from 40 normal pregnant women at term were analyzed for B19 DNA by nested PCR. Results: B19 infection was diagnosed by PCR and ELISA tests using serum samples in 4 (44%) of 9 NIHF cases and 9 (33%) of 27 spontaneous abortion cases and in 1 (20%) of 5 IUFD cases. In addition, B19 IgG prevalence was found to be 51% (24/47) in the control group. In other case series, the presence of B19 DNA in fetal and placental tissue samples was found in 14 (42.4%) of 33 NIHF cases and 6 (31.5%) of 19 spontaneous abortion cases, while in none of 40 placental tissues samples from the control group. Conclusion: Our findings show that the incidence of parvovirus B19 infection in NIHF and spontaneous abortion cases is relatively high. Nested PCR and ELISA tests should be used together for the early diagnosis of B19 infection in pregnant women.

WOS: 000291330700004 Objective: Human papilloma virus (HPV) is the major etiologic agent for cervical cancer. Cervical cancer is the second most prevalent cancer among women in the world. In this study, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of HPV infection among women admitted to Hospital of cukurova University Faculty of Medicine. Material and Methods: A total number of 460 cervical smears were obtained from women aged between 20-68 years. Consensus polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay using MY09/11 and GP5 + /6 + primers were used to detect HPV DNA. HPV DNA positive samples were further stratified as high risk (HR) and low risk (LR) by using HPVpU-1M/pU-2R and HPVpU-31B/pU-2R primers, respectively. HPV DNA positive samples were also genotyped for HPV 16, 18,31 and 45, which are the most frequently detected genotypes in cervical cancer, by using type-specific PCR. Results: Twenty-four of 460 samples (5.2%) were positive for HPV DNA. Among the 24 HPV DNA positive women, 14 (3%) had single or multiple infection with HR HPV types, 10 (2.2%) had isolated LR HPV positivity. Among 24 women with HPV DNA positivity and aged >= 30 years, the most common HPV genotype was HPV 16 (33.3%), followed by HPV 45 (20.8%), HPV 18 and HPV 31(4.2%), in rank order. Conclusion: The prevalence of genital HPV infection among women who admitted to Hospital of cukurova University Faculty of Medicine was found as 5.2%. Epidemiological studies for HPV infection should be conducted to establish screening strategies for cervical cancer and to demonstrate the feasibility of HPV vaccination.

Viral infections such as herpes viruses (CMV, EBV, HHV-6, HSV-1 and 2, VZV), adenovirus, and polyomavirus (BK virus) may lead to considerable morbidity and mortality in allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplanted children (HSCT), mainly due to iatrogenic T cell dysfunction. To manage these infections, different strategies like matching of host and donor, viral surveillance, antiviral prophylaxis and preemptive antiviral treatment have been tried and combined, since these infections have become more recognised and can be monitored by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Viral infections associated with high morbidity and mortality in HSCT patients can be prevented by early diagnosis through the molecular diagnostic techniques and timely initiation of appropriate treatment options., Herpes viruslar (CMV, EBV, HHV-6, HSV-1 ve 2, VZV), adenovirus ve polyomavirus (BK virus) gibi viral infeksiyonlar allojenik hematopoetik kök hücre (HSCT) nakledilen çocuklarda başlıca iatrojenik T hücre fonksiyon bozukluğu sebebi ile önemli morbidite ve mortaliteye yol açabilir. Bu infeksiyonların kantitatif gerçek zamanlı polimeraz zincir reksiyonu ile tanınabilir ve monitorize edilebilir hale gelmesinden bu yana, infeksiyonların yönetimi için alıcı ve donör eşleştirmesi, viral surveyans, antiviral profilaksi ve preemptif antiviral tedavi denenmiş ve kombine edilmiştir. HSCT hastalarında yüksek morbidite ve mortalite ile seyreden viral infeksiyonlar moleküler tanı teknikleri ile erken tanı ve uygun tedavi seçeneklerinin zamanında başlanması ile önlenebilmektedir.

In this study, we tested 137 Turkish children with cancer (51 with acute leukemia, 48 with lymphoma, 38 with solid tumors) while they were undergoing chemotherapy, and a control group of 45 for evidence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The control group included children with other disease who had applied to the outpatient clinic during the study period and had no history of jaundice or transfusion. Sixty-five (47.4%) patients with cancer and 7 (20%) children in the control group were positive for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) (p 0.05). Eight patients (5.8%) had circulating HCV RNA, but none had in the control group (p = 0.09). Ten (13.9%) of the 72 patients who were negative for HBsAg had circulating HBV DNA, and 7 (5.4%) of the 129 patients who were negative for anti-HCV had circulating HCV RNA. We concluded that HBV and HCV infections are common among Turkish children with cancer. In countries where HBV infection is widespread among the general population as in Turkey, children with cancer are under greater risk for HBV infection.

PubMedID: 19057847 This study was aimed to evaluate the seroprevalence of parvovirus B19 in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FS). Seventy-five patients with FS (44.3±8.3) and 75 healthy controls (44.2±8.1) were evaluated. Serum anti-B19 IgM and IgG antibodies were measured by ELISA technique. Patients were questioned about duration of symptoms, characteristic features of FS, and symptoms related with viral infection preceding the onset of FS. No significant difference was found regarding the prevalence of anti-B19 IgM antibodies between the groups (p = 0.494). Seropositivity of anti-B19 IgG of the patients was significantly higher than control group (81.3% vs. 64% respectively, p = 0.027). No statistically significant differences were found regarding to the clinical features between fibromyalgia patients with IgG antibody compared to those without IgG antibody. Parvovirus B19 IgG seropositivity was found to be significantly higher in patients with FS. Parvovirus B19 infection might have a role in the etiopathogenesis of FS or might act as a triggering factor. © Clinical Rheumatology 2008.

PubMedID: 10219585 [No abstract available]

The prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections among hemophiliac children in Turkey was investigated in a study of 41 male patients (age range 7 months to 16 years) registered at Balcali Hospitals Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology. 11 children (26.8%) had hemophilia A and 30 (73.2%) had hemophilia B. Only 7.3% of these children had received HBV vaccination. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay revealed the presence of HBV surface antigen in 11 children (26.8%) and of HCV-specific antibody in 10 (24.4%). No child was infected with HIV. Mean age duration of diagnosis and the number of blood and/or plasma transfusions were higher in children with HCV antibodies than those without such antibodies. Although donor screening has been carried out in blood banks in large cities for HBV since 1983 and for HCV since 1996 this practice is not yet routine in many parts of the country. When effective blood screening and use of heat-inactivated factor concentrates become widespread parenteral hepatitis transmission to hemophiliacs should decrease in Turkey.